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Gulf Island Building.

She wanted to tackle the shingling herself, which was OK until she started bending nails. I kept trying to tell her it was the wind bending the nails, but no matter - she asked if I would nail the shingles on.

She has had a piece of Raku for many years which she bought up in Port Hardy at a gift shop owned by a couple of our friends who have property here on Ruxton. She has decided that it must be mounted at just the right height on the right hand side of the door.

Gulf Island Building.

I'd never heard of a Raku, but it sure is nice. And that's a great spot for it. What is it made of? Are the areas that show the colors of the sunset made out of mirror?

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She wanted to tackle the shingling herself, which was OK until she started bending nails. I kept trying to tell her it was the wind bending the nails, but no matter - she asked if I would nail the shingles on.

Gulf Island Building.

I'd never heard of a Raku, but it sure is nice. And that's a great spot for it. What is it made of? Are the areas that show the colors of the sunset made out of mirror?

That's funny about the wind bending the nails.

Barb, Raku is a style of pottery, and it refers to the way it is made. The piece is fired to a high temperature (around 1,800º) very quickly - well under an hour. Normal pottery may take many hours or even days to reach temperature.

From there, the piece is put into a container with combustible materials in it, and a lid put on. This makes the combustibles burn without oxygen.

At this point the piece takes on that characteristic rough look. I don't know much about this, but we have another Raku piece which is completely different from this one. I'll see if I can find it and take a pic tomorrow. It may well be packed away, but I will ask wife number two where it is.

You can probably get a bunch of info off Google.

I think the process is named after either a Japanese individual or family who started it a few hundred years ago. The M-R-S used to have an antique business, and occasionally she would handle an old Raku piece. They are genuinely expensive. The new stuff, while moderately costly is nowhere near the price.

Wind bending the nails? Standard carpenter's answer every time he bends one!

Gulf Island Building.

The missus was asking when I might get around to putting up some proper gutters on the studio today.

Last year for her birthday I got her a rain chain, and she would like it to hang just outside the door. It's a solid one, and not the pressed tin or copper type which weigh very little. She would like some sort of nice barrel to catch the water in.

Either we could buy a half-barrel, or perhaps I could make something. Guess I will have to give that some thought.